A new avocado ripening centre in Calgary will help Mission Produce service its customers in Western Canada year-round.

With construction now complete, the 40,000 square-foot facility will compliment Mission’s distribution centre in Toronto, which the US-headquartered firm has operated since 2010.

“The Calgary facility is a natural counterpart to our Toronto facility, and gives us the ability to service customers more rapidly,” said Brent Scattini, Mission’s vice president of sales and marketing.

“By having a depot in Calgary, we can relieve some of the burden on the Toronto Ripe Centre. It also allows us more ripe capacity while developing faster deliveries of both hard and ripe fruit for customers in the West.”

The purpose-built facility has four ripening rooms designed specifically for avocados, with a total capacity to ripen 96 pallets of fruit.

“It uses the latest in avocado ripening technology that is unique to Mission Produce, including advance high-efficiency refrigeration, lighting and control systems to minimise our energy usage. It was designed and built to meet or exceed all food safety requirements.”

Mission president and chief executive, Steve Barnard, said Canada is an important market for the company, as it continues to grow its operations around the world.

“This is the third ripe centre we’ve opened this year – after opening centers in Europe and China," Barnard said. "We currently operate 11 Mission-owned centers around the world, and we plan to continue to grow globally.”